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New York Used Car Repair Rule

It looks like not only will the manufacturers such as BMW, Hyundai and General Motors be responsible for faulty defects, but also the dealers that sell used vehicles with safety defects, without having had them repaired first. Makes sense right?

Crashes involving about 2.6 million cars that are linked to 54 crashes and 13 deaths.

If you know the car has a defect you should be required to sell it to me in good condition, not look the other way. All vehicles should be safe and roadworthy before being sold.

New York City officials want dealers to repair cars under recall. Selling a car with the full knowledge that it is a hazard on wheels hold them just as responsible as the manufacturer of the vehicle.

Over 200 subpoenas have been sent to dealerships asking how many used vehicles were sold this last year while under recall had not been repaired, and whether consumers told of the defects before the sale of the vehicle.

According to emailed statements from Chrysler, Ford, General Motors, Honda, Hyundai, Nissan, Toyota and Volkswagen, used-car dealers, like consumers, can take recalled vehicles to franchised dealerships for free repairs. Dealership don’t want to take the time to do this — they just want to sell the car.

Some dealerships see this as “babysitting the consumer” and unnecessary use of manpower that cost money.

General Motors has the burden now of fixing faulty ignition switches in older cars, a defect linked to at least 13 deaths. Already, automakers have recalled a record 37.5 million vehicles this year in the United States, including about 25.5 million from General Motors.

Honda has recalled 8.9 million vehicles worldwide for faulty air bags. On Tuesday, the automaker confirmed that it wanted consumers buying recalled cars that had not yet been fixed to sign statements acknowledging that they could be “injured or killed” by the air bags in a crash.

Such sales will be prohibited in New York City under the Consumer Affairs Department’s more aggressive recall stance, however, with or without a signed acknowledgment of risk.

The city is relying on its subpoenas, along with a news release, to get the word out about the change in policy. It does not plan to directly communicate anything to the roughly 800 dealerships it licenses.

New York auto accident attorney, Paul Ajlouny, states that “with this New York law in place, no vehicle will be sold without addressing the recall issue thus lowering the possible fatality from the vehicles defect, It’s about protecting the consumer!”